FanDuel has a UK licence

anDuel is now on track to carry out its plans for a UK launch, after being granted a licence by the Gambling Commission (GC).

The daily fantasy sports operator told Gambling Insider in May that the UK launch was planned for August, but no official announcement could be made as the move was still provisional.

FanDuel’s licence status with regards to remote pool betting on the GC’s website has changed from pending to active, though it was already fully licensed to operate remote gambling software.

The GC confirmed to Gambling Insider that FanDuel has now been granted a licence.

While FanDuel has not made an announcement on being granted a licence, it has confirmed it has partnered with sports data provider Opta ahead of an August launch in time for the start of the Premier League football season in order to track live performance statistics.

This follows a run of beta contests during UEFA Euro 2016.

The UK licence application began at the back-end of last year and DraftKings, FanDuel’s competitor, launched in the UK in February.

FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles told VentureBeat in May that FanDuel UK will be football-only but could expand to other sports further down the line, and would be ring-fenced.

The UK launch has only been referred to as a “fantasy football product” by FanDuel.

This would contrast with DraftKings UK, where a range of sports are offered, as well as eSports, and it appears pools are shared between North America and the UK.

Eccles made it clear in that VentureBeat interview that FanDuel UK would be native to the UK and would use pounds as opposed to dollars as its currency, which DraftKings UK uses.

FanDuel has been based in the UK where it was founded in 2009 while growing its brand in the US and Canada, and it is now possible for UK players to sign up to FanDuel.co.uk.